<p>I am transferring to the University of Washington next year, but cannot decide between the Bothell or Seattle campus. I am planning to major in biology and complete the premed requirements for admittance into med school following graduation. I know the Seattle campus has more research opportunities and better premed advising, but I also really like the smaller campus of Bothell. What are the pros and cons of each campus? I would love to hear what you think of each campus and any advice you might have.</p>
<p>If you can get in Seattle and be able to pay for it, then Seattle. I applied to Bothell as a safety and because they gave me reasonable merit aid. Seattle doesn’t because I’m Out of State.</p>
<p>It really depends upon your circumstances.</p>
<p>Bothell’s Biology Department is pretty new, so I can only vouch for Seattle’s. I’ve taken two years of biology at the Seattle campus, and the professors and curriculum are great.</p>
<p>I don’t want to pop anyone’s beliefs here, but from what I understand, UW Seattle, UW Tacoma, and UW Bothell all fall under the “University of Washington” system (no joke). I’ve done my research and talked to various admissions counselors,according to them, they claim all three campuses just branch schools for the UW. All three schools (at least for Engineering) follow a curriculum based off of the Seattle branch. That being said, I assume this would be same same for rest of majors offered at both campuses outside of Seattle. Wherever you go, in the end your degree would say “University of Washington”. I am pretty new to this state…I’ve heard some people who go to the other branch and transfer over to Seattle (cheap?) but I also heard that UW has a crazy system where they only accept 90% of transfer applicants from CC’s. Hope that helped.</p>
<p>In my experience, the people who go to UW Bothell are generally the people who couldn’t get into UW Seattle. I believe that a degree from UW Bothell and UW Seattle are exactly the same in terms of the degree itself, but many employers(anecdotal evidence) ask if you went to UW Seattle for all 4 years or if you attended a branch school. Attending UW Seattle would afford you a greater amount of opportunities for Pre-med, and I believe it is easier to do research at UW Seattle as well.</p>
<p>In my mind, UW Seattle is far superior.</p>
<p>@JuanitaRebel</p>
<p>You are totaly right about UW Seattle being superior - but that is because it has been around for over a century. Being in the workforce, it would make sense if a WA based company (or pacific northwest) company asks about which branch you attended. But lets be honest, in the end of the day, it doesn’t matter WHERE you go, it matters HOW you do. True, maybe a 3.95 at Harvard vs a 4.0 at UW may give the win for the kid at Harvard, BUT this is where stats are just numbers. Be a person as a whole, do something that makes you shine, and shows your passion. If you can go to Seattle, defenitally go, it would be worth it, but if you go to Bothell, that is fine too. I currently work for Microsoft - my current GM is a graduate from a CC who transfered to U of Michigan. NOONE looks down upon her, everyone kisses up to her. I don’t know which field you want to go to, but his is an example of an individual who worked their way up, letting little things as to “where” they came from impact their professional career. Don’t get disappointed, you are just getting started. Have clear ambitions and be determined, and you will go far. Best of luck!</p>
<p>A community college to UMich transfer is not the same as going to UW Bothell all 4 years. It’s very common for savvy students to go cc>state university to get pre-reqs done while saving money. And when your transfer is to a prestigious public school like Michigan, UVA or UW, it’s all the better. Going to Bothell for 4 years is perfectly fine, but would not look as good as going to the main campus for 2 years as a cc transfer or for all 4 years. Whether or not the quality of education is better, the community college to public path is just more well tread and understood in the bigger world.</p>
<p>Don’t mess with “what if’s” for med school admission. Go to UW Seattle.</p>
<p>I am a student at UW Seattle and a friend of mine lives near the UW Bothell campus. She said (this is purely her opinion, however) that UW Bothell is more of a commuter school than is UW Seattle. It gives off more of a community college vibe, in terms of student age range, and the lack of a campus like UW Seattle. Honestly, if it were up to me, UW Seattle is second to none of the other branches and I feel you would be happier here.</p>
<p>@rsharma</p>
<p>I was not trying to disparage branch campuses or CC’s if thats how you interpreted my comment. I also definitely subscribe to the notion that what you do at college is far more important than what college you actually attend. With that in mind though, it still matters where you went to college to a certain extent. A person who goes to Harvard is invariably more likely to make stronger networking connections then a person who starts out at a CC(generally speaking).
Also it is very cool that you work at Microsoft! I know a lot of family friends who currently work there (Redmond branch).</p>
<p>@JuanitaRebel</p>
<p>I completely understand! Was just adding on :). And yes, I work at Microsoft! I applied to the UW, but not my first pick, already got into my top choices…but I am considering UW Seattle for the sake of commuting vs. dorming as it would be cheap, and I can continue on my job. Tough decisions!</p>
<p>Chemistry and Biology classes are very big in Seattle campus. For example, if one take first biology class and get below 1.8 GPA, then he/she get cannot move on the next class. It is very competive to get in Seattle campus from Bothel campus than from CC. If you finish all general/organic chemistry and general biology classes, then you should attend Seattle otherwise attend Bothell. Chemistry and biology are very tough at Seattle campus and I know a lot of students have to change major after taking those classes. Seattle Campus has more majors to choose if you want to change.</p>
<p>You can have the best of both worlds by doing cross-campus registration: [UW</a> Advising - Cross-Campus Registration](<a href=“http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/registration/ccregi.php]UW”>http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/registration/ccregi.php)</p>
<p>So, besides the research opportunities, what exactly are the academic differences besides campus name? If Bothell has the exact same classes as Seattle, wouldn’t it be just as difficult as Seattle? I don’t know why employers would look down on you if you went to Bothell instead of Seattle if all the students graduated with the same courses under their belt.</p>
<p>My other question:
If a local employer/university asked a gal where she went to school, does she say University of Washington (which it does on the degree itself) or University of Washington at Bothell? What about an employer/university not from Washington? I applied to both; Bothell as a safety, so I’m pretty curious.</p>
<p>@rockycrrab</p>
<p>I currently work at Microsoft, beyond the numerous counts of people I have met…it does not matter which institution you go to. Some start at community colleges and work there way up, some go to unknown state schools. I’ve realized one thing, a ivy league grad (or even a top 20 school) grad versus someone from a public state school shows differences immediately from their personality. I talked to a college recruiter few weeks ago…she mentioned that the state school kids often adapt quickly to the environment and impress most of their managers and teams, while the ivy leaguers are often just stuck there seeking immediate help. That’s not a bad thing…but just what I have noticed. The ivy league name of course only helps solidify your application to a recruiter (if the remainder parts of your application are good of course), but judging my experience at Microsoft, I would assume many recruiters are starting to judge all kids from different schools equally. In my previous post, it all goes down to how you exceeded at the school and used the resources you had to the fullest of your capabilities.</p>
<p>To your question, as a branch school, I doubt any recruiter would care where you went in terms of campus, just saying “University of Washington” fits. Of course, maybe a WA (or even a pacific northwest) job recruiter might ask “where?” but I highly doubt it. Also, they are not “highly” competitive because these campuses have been around not too long…and they just recently started admitting freshman (just found that out today!). </p>
<p>Sorry for making this post so long, not pointing out anyone here, but i’ve realized there is some misconception in previous threads about this entire “branch” system at the U-Dub. </p>
<p>Set your dreams, be motivated, nothing can stop you - self motivation and courage leads to success.</p>
<p>Edit: I noticed I had so many errors from this and previous posts, sorry! I was typing from my phone and just got lazy. Feel free to ask more questions.</p>
<p>Thank you for your speedy and informative post! Although I still wish to get into Seattle because the campus is more beautiful and there are more opportunities in the big city…but I won’t be upset ending up in Bothell.</p>
<p>EDIT: did not mean to hijack this thread hehe</p>
<p>@rockycrrab</p>
<p>No worries! 
Seattle is indeed a beautiful campus!</p>
<p>Hey, to answer your question, a number of factors must be considered!</p>
<p>Seattle has a lot of advantages over Bothell, but not all of these are purely academic. Seattle has a great student life, access to career fairs, and they have tons of events and just THINGS TO DO. They also have a lot of people to meet, and the vibe there is wonderful! Besides that, they also have stellar and competitive academic programs! However, depending on your level of success and what program you go into, getting into a competitive program in UW Seattle is difficult. If possible try to do direct admission. For one competitive major, computer science for example, I heard that only 100 students were accepted fro about 1000? That’s pretty harsh. CS is getting more funding nationwide so colleges will be accepting more CS students, but it will still be a difficult major to get into. Besides that, parties happen more often at UW Seattle. I haven’t gone to any, but I hear no parties happen at UW Bothell. It’s a shame because UW Bothell has better dorms by a landslide.</p>
<p>Bothell, on the other hand, is smaller. However it is growing. People are saying that almost anyone can get accepted to Bothell, and the reason for that is because Bothell is a growing school. They recently got a field, and they acquired a new building, as well as dorms (which are way better than Seattle’s dorms because they are cleaner and more like apartments). They are in the process of building another one, and they have plans for future construction. Seattle is more competitive to get into, but that is because their funding dictates how many people they can admit. Bothell has enough funding so they can accept more students, as well as grow. I’ve noticed that Bothell and it’s programs are slowly getting harder and more competitive to get into because they are growing in size, and they still have a set amount of people they can admit to certain programs (My knowledge of this comes from a friend who applied to the computer science major there about half a year ago. He had a 4.0 in the programming I and 3.4 in programming II, as well as an average of 3.5 for the rest of the pre reqs. He didn’t get accepted because most of the people who did has 3.6+ in all pre-reqs). As the number of applicants goes up but the number accepted stays the same, the higher the competitiveness will be. UW bothell students also have access to UW Seattle. They can attend their career fairs, and also take classes cross campus if they wish to do so. UW bothell has less programs, but their programs are just as competitive to get into. However, you may find the environment and “aura” of UWB to be less fulfilling than UW Seattle. Having been at both campuses, I can tell you that I love being at UW Seattle and just walking around more than UW Bothell.</p>